Web Hosting Poll
Okay,

We are very close to picking a new hosting provider. One is considerably more expensive than the other, but what they are offering us is 100% top notch service. The problem is that if we choose them we will not be able to keep our paid accounts the same price. We will raise them to $20/6mo or $35/year. If we pick the other provider, which is not as well known, and isn't offering us the same level of service we will not have to raise prices at all.

Please fill out this poll on what you all would want. Would you be willing to pay more for a more reliable InsaneJournal. Granted the cheaper option may never go down, but we will defiantly have more room to grow with the more expensive option.

Edit: I do want to note that once we get settled in and the paid accounts are coming in at a decent pace then we will consider lowering the prices back to a reasonable level.

Please spread word of this poll around as I want to get as many answers as possible. Also, when you do spread word of it, please don't encourage anyone to vote any particular way as I really do want honest answers.

Poll #1421 New Hosting Questions
Open to: All, results viewable to: All

What hosting option should I pick

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(Post a new comment)

	elmyraemilie 2008-04-19 05:58 pm UTC (link)
	I have a perm account, but I would be willing to pay a $20 premium for the first six months of the new host service to help get things up and running. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	unseelie 2008-04-21 05:14 am UTC (link)
	2nd this; a "Shock Treatment" badge or nod or donation-drive (no special coding bade required). as perm accounts we wouldn't be affected by the rate increases, but we want to vote for high-quality servers. it gives us some honor when saying "we want great servers", not passing the expense on solely to the shoulders of new account holders. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

(no subject) - elmyraemilie, 2008-04-21 08:53 pm UTC

avenged 2008-04-19 06:21 pm UTC (link)

Even being a poor college student sort of thing, who makes like, $630 a month and gets a nice little lump two times a year? I'm definitely a quality over cheapness sort of person. I strongly believe that you get what you pay for in life and this would be no different. IJ's kinda become my lifeline, since I've joined, I've made over 130 posts on this journal. I also have the greatest RP names I could have ever, ever secured. Which to me, is amazing. I swear that when August rolls around, no matter what the prices are, quite a few of those babies are getting paid. I've told a lot of people that I believed in this site and the moderators of it. I know that I made the right call with that. I'll gladly stay here and pay anything to do just that. And I'm permanent on two accounts, but I've got quite a few gaming voices that are demanding that they get paid too. So really, it's going to happen! Thanks for all you do, squeaky! (Reply to this)

Where are the hosts? vincent_z 2008-04-19 06:25 pm UTC (link)

I am quite unlikely to migrate to a paid level here. So I puzzle as to how to respond to the poll. What is significant, in my opinion [YMMV] is where are the potential server hosts located? I respectfully promulgate that a clear sign of Insane Journal's committment to freedom of expression would be to host the site somewhere besides the U.S.A. or Canada. That would put another layer between "do-gooders" objecting to somebody's Interests, User Info, and public posts; and/or copyright holders taking umbrage with what its characters & indiciae are being described as doing. (Dear "do-gooders": Go get a court order from Denmark, Finland, Brazil, South Africa, or India [or wherever is the IJ server]. That will be harder than clicking on a link that says "Report this content." and allowing you to paste in your boilerplate protest.) (Reply to this) (Thread)

	Re: Where are the hosts? thedolphingirl 2008-04-21 11:07 pm UTC (link)
	I am more than mildly confused. As far as I can tell, IJ does not have a link to report content, and only takes down content with an actual order to do so by law enforcement. Which means the content would have to actually be illegal. Which... Fulfills all their requirements for content needing to be taken down. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

Re: Where are the hosts? - squeaky, 2008-04-22 01:55 am UTC

Re: Where are the hosts? - thedolphingirl, 2008-04-22 02:37 am UTC

risika_shardae 2008-04-19 08:03 pm UTC (link)

I wouldn't mind paying the higher price. It is still a good deal overall. I just can't help out right now as my money is gone until I can get a summer job. When I get that I am planning on getting a year long paid membership because this site has just been so much more friendly and accommodating than LJ. I hope that the transition goes well. At least if the site goes down I can always track the twitter and at least know what is going on. Keep up the good work, we all appreciate it. (Reply to this)

mimesis 2008-04-19 09:53 pm UTC (link)

i have a free account, so obviously cost is something i think about. i have already traded service because of cost, but should i later move to a paid account i think that i would still prefer a lower price. as it is, the service on IJ has been almost no-glitch for me. (i didn't even notice the recent outage, and wouldn't have been aware of it at all except for announcements posts.) (Reply to this)

	christinathena 2008-04-19 10:14 pm UTC (link)
	$35/year is still only 3 bucks a month. That's pretty darn cheap. (Reply to this)

accio_arse 2008-04-19 10:50 pm UTC (link)

I already have one perm account but might be buying another in the future, for fic only accounts or my fandom asylums. I'm very happy here. I wouldn't mind paying more in future for reliability, I think it still sounds good value. Over the last year since I moved, the one beef from my LJ friends has been 'I clicked on your IJ link and it was down'. More reliability please! That way more will come over here and make it easier for us who have already migrated as we form replacement communities. Thanks for asking us, squeaky. (Reply to this)

ashylogic 2008-04-20 01:11 am UTC (link)

I upgraded to a permanent account for this journal when you offered it this go around. I also keep several rp journals as well as help pay for journals of my friends. I voted for the increase in price because honestly it's worth the increase. You're still offering more userpics than you can get at LJ. There isn't any sponsored accounts stuff that is sneaking in ads. But more importantly you are staying in contact with your users, and offering us a chance to voice our opinions. That kind of respect is definitely worth supporting the site for. I'll continue to keep accounts paid, and appreciate you continuing to keep us informed and involved. Thanks. (Reply to this)

butterbean 2008-04-20 01:27 am UTC (link)

I agree with most all of the comments I've read here. I vote for the more reliable service. Another user made a great point about LJ vs. higher IJ prices. The only way you're getting the cheaper route at LJ is if you use the automatic payments (and in the seven years I used their services, I never used that option). Their 6 mos paid accounts may be $15, but that's only with the 30 userpics. You automatically offer 250 with the single payment. In order to get the pics raised to 100 (still much lower than what IJ offers) that would be an extra $6, totaling to $21 instead of your 20. And with userpics being one of the main reasons users buy paid accounts in the first place? IJ has the much better offer because as many extras LJ offers to their paid users, 90% of those don't get touched. I have a paid account here right now (it was actually a gift), but I plan to most likely make this one a perm. and will be upgrading several of my RP accounts to paid as soon as I can decide which! Your customer service is way, way higher than LJ ever could dream of being. I appreciate the way you're asking for user input and not changing this on us and letting people find the changes on their own. Thank you for all that you do for the site and its users! (Reply to this)

	whatthefuckbenj 2008-04-20 07:18 pm UTC (link)
	Just dropped by to wish you a Happy Birthday! Hope you're having a wonderful day (and thanks again for all the work you're putting into IJ =) ) (Reply to this)

reposting to correct mistake... alchemia 2008-04-20 08:09 pm UTC (link)

I didn't vote because IDEALLY I would choose Amazing service costing more, but REALISTICALLY, I can't afford it (not even the current prices at the moment). If you had something that was uber-cheep, like, (god, i can't believe I'm saying this, b/c I hate them on LJ), those little $1 virtual gifts, which are in my sad price range, I would buy those on occasion, OR if there's just some donate by paypal page even, that I'm unaware of. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	Paypal the_willow 2008-04-21 06:57 am UTC (link)
	http://asylums.insanejournal.com/announcements/51568.html?mode=reply (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

Re: Paypal - alchemia, 2008-04-21 03:42 pm UTC

Re: Paypal - alchemia, 2008-04-27 05:58 am UTC

lethlogica 2008-04-20 08:24 pm UTC (link)

I've always had problems whenever I've shopped for hosting...and gone with the lowest common denominator. When I started shopping for my business, I avoided the lowest-price hosts because I figured I was shopping on behalf of my clients as well as myself. That said, my server provider isn't one of the well-knowns, and I love them. A lot. I wouldn't ever go anywhere else. If the lesser-known company doesn't provide the service/support/reliability that makes you feel comfortable, then that would be my chief reason to choose the other option. (I have a permanent account. Where's that donation button..?) (Reply to this) (Thread)

	Paypal the_willow 2008-04-21 06:58 am UTC (link)
	http://asylums.insanejournal.com/announcements/51568.html?mode=reply (Reply to this) (Parent)

	unseelie 2008-04-21 05:11 am UTC (link)
	As a perm account holder, i'd go for a "Shock Treatment" for one-time donations. i'm sure there is a donation button, a nudge toward it during times of need isn't unwelcome or unusual. (Reply to this)

the_willow 2008-04-21 06:52 am UTC (link)

My LJ was my online home for YEARS. I abandoned having a regular website at all, because it wasn't as easy to keep up no matter my mood and it didn't come with community. When I couldn't afford to pay for it, my friends paid for it, so I would have the space and the community and the little fun extras. I currently have a permanent account. I just created two rp accounts and will create a third. Those won't be paid. But I have decided I need a second personal account, one for my writing. And that and any other -personal- accounts I need I have no problem paying for. My buying a permanent account was me having faith in iJay. It's not me never supporting it with money ever again. Go grow, Squeaky. We'll deal. And thank you for giving me back the stability of an online home. (Reply to this)

	mhari 2008-04-21 05:47 pm UTC (link)
	Perm here, but my secondary is paid, and $35 is not too much. ♥ (Reply to this)

	thedolphingirl 2008-04-21 11:01 pm UTC (link)
	I don't really have a personal opinion since I have a PI account. Just would like to point out that the majority of users are likely to not be willing to pay for more than LJ as we don't have all those features. If they both have good enough service (at least, no worse off than we are now) I suppose maybe it's smart to leave the prices the same? (Reply to this)

	batsojopo 2008-04-21 11:49 pm UTC (link)
	If I didn't have a perm account, I'd gladly pay for the higher prices for top notch service. (Reply to this)

Dear Squeaky: ficangel 2008-04-22 12:07 am UTC (link)

Out of curiosity, have you seen this? Some good points from someone who used to work with LJ. Frankly, I have no problem with paying higher prices to get IJ over the hump. I have a permanent account (bought it before I realized that, whoops, this is not going to be helping long-term site sustainability), but it was dirt cheap. If there was some kind of charity thing where I could turn in my permanent account in exchange for what it would be worth in terms of paid account time, I would do it. (Reply to this) (Thread)

Re: Dear Squeaky: - squeaky, 2008-04-22 01:58 am UTC

	thegoodlife 2008-04-26 05:36 pm UTC (link)
	helloooo :-) i had a question about something completely unrelated to this, check your private messages please! (Reply to this)

	celestialwings 2008-05-05 02:38 am UTC (link)
	Okay, everytime I go to post a comment, entry, etc things keep coming up with 'database temporarily unavailiable'. Is something wrong? (Reply to this)

	somethingsilent 2008-05-17 05:25 am UTC (link)
	Might've been nice to see this in announcements instead of having to friend your personal journal to see this kind of thing... (Reply to this)

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